The Bet//roadtrip bxb

12//the principal's office

After their first class, Andy, Sonny, and Jack all run into each other in the hallway. "Have either of you seen Rye?" Sonny asked.

"I drove him to school, but not since then, no. Have you seen Brook, though? He disappeared this morning, too," Jack told the other two.

"Nope, and nope," Andy sighed. "Maybe they're together?"

"Why would they be together?" Sonny asked, seeing as though they'd never hung out together before.

"I guess you're right," Andy agreed. "Just a thought, though." The three walked to class, hoping to see the other two at lunch.

What they didn't know was that the other two boys were, in fact, together. Rye had somehow managed to convince Brook to go to the principal's office to tell them about Harvey, maybe get the whole situation sorted out. Brook's one condition was that Harvey wouldn't know he was the one who had told.

"Woah, what happened here?" Dreelan asked as they walked in. "You look like you've been crying all morning," he observed.

"He has," Rye deadpanned.

"Anything I can help with?" Dreelan asked.

"Umm, is there anyway for me to report a bullying incidence, completely anonymously?" Brook asked timidly.

"Of course, what's been happening?" Dreelan asked.

"Harvey. He bullies a lot of people. Just, no one has the guts to stand up to him or tell because he's the big boss around school," Brook explained.

"I'll have you know, Mr. Wyatt, that I, in fact, am the big boss around school, and that if anyone's scared of anyone, it should be me."

Rye and Brook both half-heartedly smiled at the attempted humor.

"That being said, I'm going to need more information than just bullies a lot of people," he said.

"Okay, well, a lot of the time it's for people being gay. Or, according to him, acting gay," Brook tried.

"Any specific instances you can think of?" Dreelan tried.

"Umm..." Brook trailed off.

"Tell him about this morning," Rye said.

"Well, me and my friend were walking in the hall this morning, and he came up to us, called us some names, and shoved us apart, and into the walls. Apparently we were acting too gay for him. And being stupid, or something," Brook tried to recall as much as he could without going into another fit of crying.

"Which friend would this be?" the principal asked, more to Rye, seeing as Brook was trying to keep his composure.

"I really, really would like to keep him out of this," Brook piped up, before Rye could.

"I need as many sources as possible, or else it could be your word against Harvey's," he tried to explain.

"We'll both be completely anonymous?" Brook asked. Mr. Dreelan nodded. "Okay, it's Jack. Jack Duff."

"Anyone else that may have seen anything?"

"Not this instance, specifically, but Andy Fowler, maybe?"

"Okay, thank you, boys. You can head to class now. Or if you need a few more minutes, that's fine, too."

"Thank you, sir," Rye nodded politely, then guided Brook to the couch outside the office to help calm him down a little more. At this point, they only had a few more minutes of this class before lunch, so they decided to wait it out.

"Are you okay now, Brook?" Rye asked, wanting to make sure the blond boy was feeling at least a little bit better before making him leave and go talk to other people. More specifically, before talking to Jack.

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks for helping me, Rye!" Brook said, hugging the taller boy.

"Of course, anytime," Rye told him, wrapping his arms around Brook as well.

Meanwhile, the other three boys were walking through the halls on their way to lunch. Sonny and Jack had just been let out early from the same class and had found Andy in the hallway. They were still talking about where Rye and Brook might've been.

"I dunno. I was really upset this morning and Brook comforted me. And then he got pretty upset and ran off. I just assumed he went to his first class, but I guess not," Jack mumbled.

"Yeah, I have no idea. What about Rye, though?" Sonny asked.

"He was with us, too, but he ran ahead to avoid the rain," Jack said.

"Yeah, I haven't seen Brook or Rye at all today," Andy told them.

"Wait you mean you haven't been tutoring him and making him so much smarter?" Sonny asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What?" Andy asked, slightly shocked, but trying to be nice at the same time.

"Yeah, what the fuck, Robertson? Fowler helped Rye out a ton. He really needed that!" Jack defended his crush. Even if he was jealous that his best friend was getting the attention instead of him, he wasn't about to discredit how much Andy's only tutoring session helped Rye out.

"Yeah, sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out like that. Sorry," Sonny mumbled.

All three were silent for a minute, before a tear slid down Sonny's face. Jack was too busy with his own thoughts to notice, but Andy saw it.

"Hey, what's the matter, Sonny?" Andy asked. Sure, Sonny's words were uncalled for, but there was no need for him to cry over it.

"I'm just worried. And I shouldn't be as worried as I am. But I can't help it. He was at the school. He was fine, but he didn't show up to class. There has to be a reason, but I have a gut feeling that it's not a good one," Sonny answered.

"Hey, it's okay," Andy soothed, tracing circles over his back in an attempt to calm him down.

"Yeah, I'm worried, too, Robertson. But, like you said, they've been at school. What's the worst that could happen?" No one answered Jack's question, but they all thought of possible answers. Jack was able to come up with a few, the worst all consisting of Harvey.

"I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to him, though. I love him. I can't lose him," Sonny quietly told them, the tears continuing to slide down his face.

"You love him?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Sonny whispered.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class. Andy stood up, and offered Sonny and Jack both a hand as they did the same. The three made their way to the lunchroom silently, not expecting to see Rye and Brook sitting at their table already with their food.

1082 words
~Soph